Search - Xenakis, Electronic Studio Westdeutscher Rundfunk :: Xenakis: La Légende d'Eer

One of the greatest electroacoustic recordings

gone daddy gone | 12/11/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Xenakis is at his peak here, and records what may be the most intense electroacoutic composition of all time. There is a point where filters rise on the oscillations and they sound like they are breaking through the speakers, this almost made me hyperventilate the first time I heard it. Almost too intense to listen to, this music demands reverence."

Interplay rules this piece.

Thomas Taylor | Atlanta, GA USA | 01/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I say that because, unlike many instances of "experimental" or "new" music, Xenakis, in an entirely electronic medium, has able to put into play the tension that abides eternally between structuring and de-structuring. At first any play of structure whatsoever may not be detected, but there is a definite ebb and flow to this piece-- moments could be exerpted and dilineated, but, why do so? The musical events of the piece, semi-distinct, disolve into and out of one another. You will flow with them once you allow this piece to take you hostage. The title refers to an underworld descent-resurfacing story from Plato's Republic. Xenakis also associated the piece the strange (non-theistic) moments in Pascal's Pensees, in which the ontological wonder takes over one without the guarantees of creation and conservation. The philosophy is not at all necessary for the piece, but as a constant reader, I would impart to others that this piece forces me to that moment (also felt in intense reading)in which the event is no longer classifiable as either sense or non-sense. Thus, "interplay.""

Hear it for your ears' sake

Brian Beamish | London, UK | 09/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is quite the best piece of electronic music I've heard yet. Xenakis was slightly ahead of his time, as the plethora of noise artists that began to appear in the 80s, shows. I just bought this CD today and have listened to the work twice already. Yes, it's intense; yes, it's difficult in places; but it never stops being interesting. I thought Varèse or Stockhausen were slightly outré, or even Kazayuki K Null, but La Légende d'Eer satisfies those of us who like this sort of experience to last more than the regulation 10 minutes. There are all sorts of sounds here, from feedback, recorded glass on concrete, to modulators and other acoustic devices. The piece is for tape and will be played live in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 9th October 2005. I've got my ticket already."